Mary Dolce

I wasn’t sure I should do a testimonial. I mean… I am not at my ideal weight; I don’t feel like an ‘after’ picture just yet…why would anyone care what I have to say???

But there have been big changes with me over the past year.

My entire adult life I’ve been in a war with my body. I tried to control it through Weight Watchers more times than I can count. I yo-yoed up and down…up to a HUNDRED pounds for years. I’d be on a diet, off a diet for as long as I can remember.

It played with my head, it made me not trust my own instincts, and I thought about food ALL the time. I’d join gyms and never go, I’d invent rigid food rules and then break them… I didn’t know how to be “normal” about myself and my weight at all. I was obsessed with food, and with eating or not eating. But yet I was made miserable from my obsession at the same time. I had knee pain, back pain, and a lot of general grumpiness.

Then I saw a Groupon deal, and found Dennis. It SOUNDED good…he comes to your house???

Well sure, I’ll try it! And… it IS good!

It’s a whole different ballgame having my trainer show up at my door. I can’t say enough about the convenience factor… believe me when I say I have a LONG history of doing anything I can to get out of working out. But there’s no escape when someone comes to the house… and that’s not a bad thing! As much as I dread working out sometimes (I can’t lie – It doesn’t come naturally to me!) I’m always so glad when I do.

After that initial deal was over, I signed up for a year, and I lost 34 pounds in that first year. I felt better, but I was still at war with myself – it turned out I was approaching my workouts with Dennis as yet another “fad.” I mean, I worked out, but still with the same “diet” mindset – I was looking for a quick fix. And when the initial thrill was gone, my old eating habits came back. I gained what I’d lost and more.

BUT… that’s not where this ends.

I had glimpsed the future, and I didn’t want to give up. More to the point, Dennis believed in me too and wouldn’t LET me give up! He really does want his clients to succeed.

He introduced me to Esther Hansen (www.ftcollinsweightloss.com). Through her I started learning how to eat healthier, and that “low cal” doesn’t always mean “better” – thank god! So I increased my food awareness… and I was still exercising more with Dennis… but the final piece of the puzzle for me was to deal with my relationship with food: why I ate what I ate. I then started working with Josie Dove (www.fortcollins-counselor.com) to get to the root of things, and that’s when change finally started to happen – lasting change, I think!

I’ve now had a total weight loss of 54 pounds in the last seven months, and this is the least I’ve weighed in more than 20 years. All my knee pain is gone (although as Dennis will attest, I hate jumping and I always will!). I’m competing in a triathlon this summer, and I look forward to the rest of my excess weight coming off.

I turn 50 this year and feel the best I have in a long, LONG time… And to think, all this change came from buying one little Groupon!